The present invention relates to an apparatus for and a method of recording a color picture image by using three masking master plates.
A typical color picture image recording apparatus of the described type has been proposed heretofore. In this proposed apparatus, a masking master plate corresponding to a respective one of three primary colors outputted from a monochromatic printer is brought in contact with a photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium, whereupon the latter is exposed to light through the masking master plate to form a color latent image on the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium. Subsequently a developer sheet is placed on the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium and is then pressed thereagainst by a pressure developing unit. As a result, a color picture image is formed on the developer sheet.
However, from this proposed apparatus it was found no practical manner in which each of the three masking master plate is registered at the same position on the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium. To this end. assuming that a conventional locating technique is used tentatively in this proposed apparatus, the individual masking master plate is temporarily stopped by a pair of locating rollers at an upstream end of a conveyor in such a manner that a leading edge of the plate is aligned in a direction parallel to the axes of the locating rollers. Then the aligned masking master plate is fed bY the conveyor. Finally, when the leading edge of the masking master plate or a location mark on the masking master plate arrives at a sensor disposed in a travelling path of the plate, the sensor issues a termination signal to deenergize a drive for the conveyor to thereby discontinue the feeding of the plate. PracticallY, however, this conventional locating technique is not suitable for the color picture image recording apparatus of the type discussed above, because every masking master plate has a picture image not necessarily at the same position and, as a result, a shift or shear between three primary colors would occur in forming a color latent image on the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium, thus deteriorating the quality of a color image formed on the developer sheet.